Contrasts theories of the “Japanization” of British industry with empirical evidence from established car producers in that industry. Suggests that while the UK car industry has been heavily influenced by Japanese methods, established producers follow policies marked by indigenous influences...

Purpose – The article aims to report on research into managerial practices at the workplace level in Britain and Italy in the automobile and aerospace industries. These are examined with regard to their impact on employees' perceptions of skill, training and their relationship to...

Purpose – The paper aims to investigate how teamwork contributes to successful maintenance practice within maintenance work in an industrial setting. Design/methodology/approach – Qualitative data were gathered from a single case. This includes interviews, participatory observation and...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyse the cross‐cultural reasons underlying the extreme industrial unrest experienced during the first seven years of Toyota’s operations in India. Design/methodology/approach – The paper employs a case study approach using data obtained from...

This article is concerned with three key approaches to the implications of Japanese involvement in the UK. It is argued that the paradigms of the so‐called Japanization and lean production schools are inadequate to the task of resolving the sociological implications of Japanese investment and...

This paper reports the findings of a study into 12 UK and nine Japanese automotive component plants. Compared to the UK plants, the Japanese plants showed a 60 per cent superiority on productivity and a 9:1 superiority in quality. Detailed examination of work structures on the shopfloor revealed...

The paper contributes to the discussion on works councils and teamwork in the German auto industry. General Motors’ Opel plant in Germany has been chosen to study works councils’ participation in the process of introducing teamwork, and the effects of teamwork on workers’ representation on...

This unique ebook focuses on the development of 'free trade unions' in the former Soviet block countries. The contributors are writing from their own experiences, they lived in the 'old regime' and took part in the changes of the late 1980s' which ended the 'socialist experiment' and opened the...

Over the last few years, the number of part‐time employees has increased considerably, and this presents a challenge for unions in particular because of the inferior circumstances in which these people are employed.